Footenotes: PAX East Recap

What a weekend.

First, let me start off by giving a huge thank you to everyone at Greater Than games for allowing me to come up to their conventions and be a small part of what they do. Everyone there makes you feel like part of a small family and it fosters a great atmosphere for volunteers and wandering customers alike.

Meeting the Whole Gang

I have met Paul, Christoper, Adam, and Craig on multiple occasions now. But getting to meet Jodi, Jen, Chris, Daryl, and John (AKA MigrantP) for the first time was fantastic and by far my favorite part of PAX. I physically can't type enough good things about these folks or I'd break the internet. Greater Than Games is so lucky to have each one of them on their team and it was a pleasure to get to know them.

Strike!

I stayed in the same hotel as Chris and Daryl, so I took full advantage of my oppertunity and got to play Bottom of the 9th with the masters. And I gotta tell you guys. It's really good. The mindgame dynamic between the pitcher/batter is really engaging for how simple the mechanic which is telling of solid design. I felt that the Batters had a slight advantage over Pitchers, but that might be because I pitched in both games I played and lost miserably haha. I need to get faster at rolling dice, thats for sure.

As an interesting note, I played against a guy named Peter both times. Now, he is from Australia and has no idea what baseball is or how it's played or it's rules. He knew that it was a "worse cricket". That was about it. He picked it up immediatly. Best part was the game is small enough that we played sitting at the bar over a few beers. It was a ton of fun and very well designed. If you backed it (like I'm going to do later today) than you will be very happy with what you're getting.

Booth Life

One of my favorite parts about these conventions is getting to interact with people at the booth. Even in the midst of huge video game companies and RockBand 4 right across the isle, our booth was consistantly packed with enthusiastic people waiting to play our games. We had fewer demo tables than we had last year at PAX East, only running 2 SotM, 2 Tactics, and 1 GSF table, but the plus side to that was that they were always full and always had people standing around waiting to jump in. We were busy. I loved seeing families who would come in and sit down together and have a blast playing SotM, or that one boyfriend/girlfriend couple that sat on opposite teams in Tactics. There was one kid, no more than 8 or 9 years old, who I remember has been saving Sentinels Points for almost 2 years now trying to get a playmat. Don't tell Paul, but I may have thrown him a few extra points under the table to his shock and excitment. He still had about 2500 points to go, but you could tell that he loved SotM as much as any of us here and his reaction made it worth it.

Tournament Life

Friday was all about pushing the tournament and getting teams to sign up. And it wasn't hard. The majority of people who played the demo that day were very interested in not only playing more of the game, but trying to win that sweet cash prize as well. By the end of Friday we had all 16 teams of three signed up and telling even more to come back Saturday morning just in case anyone dropped. I think 1 team dropped out allowing some alternates in, and a 2nd team quit after the first game (giving someone a bye round), but for the most part they were all ready to start laying down the hurt.

The booth setup for the Tournamnet was incredible and really stood out amongst the other booths in the table top area. We had a magnificent table lent to us by Geek Chic and custom dice trays created by Wyrmwood. That combined with the great A/V setup by the >G Productions crew made for quite a sight.

I was luky enough to be allowed to Live Cast the first few games of the tournament on Saturday and the Finals on Sunday. We saw some really slow defensive games early on, but when it came to the semi-finals Saturday night and the finals on Sunday, it was down and dirty brawls (teams figured out quickly that if you want to win, you have to score).

The Meta Game

There was a big shift in the meta game compared to the other tournaments. Blade and Dawn saw most of the bans early on, but the semi's and the finals were almost all Wraith and Tachyon bans! Wraith's popularity in the ban bracket was due in no small part to the particular map setup. Teams seemed to have a hard time dealing with Wraith sitting back clear accross the map in cover sniping with Targeting Computer and Throwing Knives/Stun Bolts. In fact, in the 2nd game of the Finals where Wraith wasn't banned, Wraith incapped an opposing Unity on the very first turn of the game before the second team even had a chance to take their first actions. Needless to say Wraith was the first ban of the 3rd and final match.

If there was one character who stood out as the most dominating force that couldn't be reckoned with and a clear MVP, it was Tachyon. This tournament blew the meta game wide open because every team needs to take a very hard look at how they want to respond if their opponent chooses her. Pushing the Limits allowed Tachyon teams to either pull way ahead quickly or to come back and turn the tables. The winning team, Something Clever, used Pushing the Limits very aggressively, using it every round if able. Even Bunker with his 4 defense die and high health has a hard time staying upright with 2 full turns of sprints and nimble strikes with the occasional Lightspeed Barrage thrown in.

With Tachyon and Wraith seeing more ban time, this led to a lot more Dawn. Dawn is still one of the strongest characters for Tournament play and was use in every single game in which she wasn't banned. But more time playing Dawn led to more experimentation with her Citizen choices. Truth was still a popular pick of course, but teams are getting wise to that tactic as the winning teams push to more aggressive play styles. With more aggressive styles comes more aggressive Citizens. Hammer and Anvil were a particularly popular choice this tournament in lieu of Truth. Free +Defense tokens are never a bad thing, and their strong AoE attack came in handy.

With Tachyons popularity, I will expect to see some Ra's run Living Pyre, Operatives with poisons and Hidden Blade Strike, Ambuscades with Defensive Plating, and Blades with Kinetic Redistributor. I also would like to see a move towards debuffing Attack dice, such as Citizen Autumn and Blood/Sweat/Tears, Wraiths Stun Bolts, Omnitrons Remote Tranquilizer, and Dawns Blinding Blast. You might also see teams try and get Tachyon down to just 1 health and then refuse to incapacitate her, even at the cost of a victory points, just so she is not given the option to sit right back up next turn into Pushing the Limits. 

Christopher and you made a good commentary team.  I also wondered if the players could hear your suggestions based on what happened with that one Ambuscade play that with better dice rolls could have been a lot more brutal.  

Save Tachyon for the last incap.

Also, if you defeat Truth, don't defeat Dawn right away.  Otherwise she gets back up with Truth again.  Dawn also can make a great save for last incap.

What do you do when Tachyon and Dawn are teamed up?

The big thing with the Tournaments is the time limit. It can be a worthwhile gamble by just scoring the point and hoping you don't get revenge killed since you would be ahead and winning. In that one Finals game I was talking about this exact thing with Christopher, debating whether or not Spin the Dragon should actually go for the kill on Tachyo with 1 HP left to score the point to get back into the game or let her live so she can't Push the Limits with abandon. I think with the way the turn orders worked out there was little hope for Spin the Dragon to come back in that match, and were crippled by the fact that Something Clever never allowed the game to get to the end of the second round where Ambuscade was poised for the huge swing turn coming out of Stealth.

It was a facinating 3rd game reflecting on it, because I think that if Spin the Dragon played defensivly and then switched into super high gear into round 3 allowing Ambuscade the chance to swing the game in their favor there might have been a different outcome (Christopher said it in the pregame talks "If Something Clever isn't winning at the end of round 2 they are really going to be behind"). I think Dragon should take a hard look at that game going to the world championships at GenCon. They should also take a long look at how they used Baron Blade because it wasn't pretty for the most part, to the point where it single handedly lost them the first game. Kinetic Redistributor could have been used to shut Tachyon down if positioned well, and I suspect teams will gravitate that way if they choose to ban Dawn over Tachyon.

Something Clever was good, but they could have been far more dominate with Unity. Taking a look at that third game, thing of how bad of a spot Spin the Dragon would have been in if Swift Bot, instead of on the first turn just hanging out in the middle of their start position, had been reconfigured into an explosion (hitting all 3 team members) and turned into a Turret Bot. With Wraith being banned, there was little reason to not run with reconfigure (and that second game was a perfect example of why a Stealth Bot in its place might actually be really useful), and I think I mentioned that to them after the tournament. At GenCon, watch out for them to play a much meaner Unity. If I was given first pick/first play option (and Something Clever favored that position over first Ban), Swift Bot/Reconfigure–>Turret Bot in the first play position can be a huge move.

Any flat map is going to favor Tachyon, the real way to slow her down is terrain that inhibits Hypersonic Assault, that way she can't afford to skip your hazards with Hypersonic without The world stands still.

I hope future tournaments develop a few different setups for the match, and have the first part of the match be rolling for what map the game will take place on.

Hidden Blade strike is not as good a counter to Tachyon as Bitter Spiral (IMO) since it can really punish a LSB.

Wraith is actually one of my favorite counters to Tachyon, as Combat Stance can counter attack a Hypersonic Assault.

Thanks, Foote. Really appreciate the recap -- particulary the Tactics tournament meta game.

I played a skirmish this weekend with a table full of other people who'd not played before. Playing Tachyon, I proceeded at one point to do six attacks in a row across two turns. The opposition was dumbstruck.

I re-taught my wife the other night playing the first BB secnario as Blade (which I know is a disadvantage for Blade).  She picked Wraith and Tachyon. She got the second incap with a Sucker Punch at the end of Tacky's 3rd turn total (first in the second round).  That went...poorly

Bitter Spiral only works once per turn, making it really not great against the "death by 1000 papercuts" style of tachyons attacks.  Bitter Spiral also doesn't really punish LSB  at all since any competent player will hit you with a normal nimble strike (procing Spiral) before unleashing LSB. And if you are in Dragon Frenzy beast mode to get the most milage out of Bitter Spiral in the first place against an LSB, theres a 50% chance you will just get sucker-punched instead and be insta-incapped anyway.

Hidden Blade Strike, on the other hand, shuts down Unrelenting Momentum/Sprint hard, since I doubt Tachyon players are going to want to keep sprinting in and out of those hazard spaces. I realise you can still get nailed with Hypersonic Assault, but that means you are not taking two full turns of attacks from Pushing the Limits.

Maybe I've just had luck with it, but I like to Aim when I Operative, and I've incapped Tachyon on her first attack 3 or 4 times.  I also like to pull people, so often the threat of Tachyon and an ally being attacked is enough to warrant choosing another target.

When Berserking at 1hp you are much better off with Blade Strike, since you can incap her before she attacks.  (is that a thing tournament-wise, or can Tachyon attack before the hazard triggers?)

Wraith is the better counter to Tachyon though, Combat Stance and slip into chadows ruins Tachyon's day, and Wraith can incap her from across the map, so it is hard to hit and run.

Unity-Wraith is a great team when the map has cover, because Championbot+Targetting Computer+Infrared Eyepiece is insane.  You drop anyone you see.

They also counter Tachyon incredibly well.

I wish I could get to a tournament this year, ditched Pax East for Gen Con and now Gen Con is falling apart.

Wait; in general, or just for you? Scaring me here, man.

If both attacks trigger based on Tachyon having moved, I think it is up to the active player to choose the order that they occur.

We play that Hazards occur first, because they don't wait for you to stop moving, where Tachyon's attack triggers after you sprint.

For me.  I decided to go for the final tournaments and my first Gen-Con over Pax East and now I probably won't get either.  Grrr at people.

The problem with Spiral is that unless you are in Dragon Frenzy, you are looking at, at best, a once-off 3 die attack. Even aimed, thats not going to evoke much fear. Now, if you managed to position yourself so that Spiral can hit more than 1 target and you are in Beast Mode (or maybe normal mode but next to a target you gave Undivided Attention to), I think Spiral has a massive payoff since opposing teams REALLY wouldn't want to proc it, or would think long and hard about it.

Hazards trigger immediatly. Hidden Blade would attack before Tachyon does. (Summon Paul/Luther/Christopher Is this correct?)

In a tournament scene though, there is no way Wraith is going to give up Targeting Computer and Stunbolts/Throwing Knives to start out with. If you can force Wraith to switch into Slip Into Shadows, thats a major win for you. If you force her to take Combat Stance, I'd also consider that a good thing because you cut her offensive options down for that turn. If I'm going up against Wraith and she does that, I'd feel very good about it.

While they might have the tools to personally counter Tachyon 1v1, to do so you really need to give up a ton of what makes you really good in the rest of the match. But I will say having Wraith go in the first play position with Targetting Computer is very strong. Infrared is good, though I'd prefer having a second attack to get in more potential damage since Infrared can on occasionally put you in a worse position than before. Paired up with Champion bot I really love the synergy there though. It does mean that Unity wont be running the Kamikazze Swift Bot tactics, so there is a trade-off in speed there (since Unity has to go first to get Champ into position, then have Wraith do her thing). I think given the time constraints in matches going faster will be a better option for most team comps. Though I did mention above that when setting up for an Ambuscade Stealth Swing going into round 3 you need to be very carefull not to fall behind before then (which is what happened to Spin the Dragon, losing them the tournament).

Fair enough, though if the hazard is the second hex of the sprint, we're back to the two attacks triggering at the same time.

Not really though. The attack happens after you sprint. Hazards still trigger by moving into the hex during the sprint.

So question, does the hazard trigger again if you are already in the hazard space (and taken the attack, choose a Sprint action and don't actually move?  Since Spring is up to I assume you can just move 0 as your number of spaces

Hmm … On further reflection, I think agree with you. The sequence of events is:

1. Choose Sprint as action and b egin resolving the Sprint action

2. Move one hex and then move a second hex

3. Trigger the Hazard attack and be gin resolving the Hazard attack

4. Finish resolving the Hazard attack

5. Finish resolving the Sprint action

6. Trigger Tachyon's attack and b egin resolving Tachyon's attack

7. Finish resolving Tachyon's attack

If you are not moving, why not just make multiple nimble strikes in a row?

You could potentially take more than one Sprint to get into position so if you had Unrelenting Momentum you would want the 3rd one for free still.  An edge case but one I have seen

The rules state that Sprint = moving "up to" 2 hexes. I am unsure of whether that includes 0 or if you must move at least one by taking a Sprint.

0 is totally an option.

"Up to" includes 0. You can Sprint zero spaces. If you do, you're not entering any spaces, and so aren't triggering any hazards.

If Tachyon sprints into a hazard space, the hazard will trigger during the resolution of the sprint, which is before she would get to make her free Attack (after the sprint).

For those of us that have to wait till the video gets posted on you tube, what did the map look like, since you said it influenced the meta game this time around. or does anybody have a good pictures of the tournemant map?

Upside down T with Volcaino at the Top, so the middle was all level 1 with some cover, mountains all around the edges

The map was the best tournament map yet. Volcano at the top center, 3 turrets straight south of it at the far bottom. Each team started clear across eachother toward the top of the map, with an area of cover that was about 4 hexes below starting positions that flanked into the turrets hazard spaces. If you made it to the edge of the cover you could have LoS to some of the starting positions of the opposing team. Everything else was flat open land through the center.

This is a link to watch the Finals match between Something Clever and Spin the Dragon. Skip to about 41-42 minutes in because thats where it starts.

It made the center really easy for tachyon and the wraith to control. The openness and lack of cover allowed both of them to attack exactly who they wanted to.

PAX East was a blast! Thanks to all the GTG team & great volunteers for making it possible. We posted a recap with photos on our blog:

http://handelabra.com/blog/2015/3/10/post-pax-post-boston-2015-edition

What were the rules and attack for the turrets.

Looks like a good map, all of my strategies are based on older ones, will have to try out some new stuff.

Same as Baron Blade's Powered Remote Turrets.

Do they attack anyone, or do they support the team on their side?

They were in the middle and attack everyone

Naturaling occuring turrets are known to be very territorial.

Next up, the territorial defenses of the Larch.

Looks like they made a custom map for this tournament, weren't even using the tiles anymore. More like pieces of the tiles, with some even being mirrored.

They used a custom map for PAX South too.   I'm not sure about their tournament at the GtG warehouse though.  I hope at Gencon they use a few different maps so that it has to be taken into consideration along with what your opponent chooses for characters.  

I think, to be fair to the teams, the tournament map should be consistent through the initial brackets, but could be different for the semi-finals and/or finals. (I think it would be more interesting for it to be different for the finals, personally.) But they'll be running the qualifier and the Grand Finals at Gen Con, so we'll probably see some different maps between those. 

If we get enough good maps built you could use a different map for each round, and then use one of them at random for the finals.

I do not believe multiple maps will happen. Would it be interesting? Sure. But I keeping the same map setup can lead to a better drafting proccess as teams get more familiar with the map and each others strats. Look at the PAX East map and see how different the Bans/Drafts were in the beginning rounds compared to the semi-finals and finals (I'm also considering matches that were not on stream). If all we had were pro experienced Tactics players, changings maps would be ok, but the fact is a lot of our qualifiers are just learning the game that weekend and we can't tax those people so hard that they feel like they can't compete. I'd rather they focus on changing up their tactics based on the drafting process and who the opposing team is, isntead of having to worry about what the new might is/might look like. Just my opinion on it though.

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Each iteration of the tournament map has been a really good learning experience and they are getting better and better at making them. I think the GenCon map will be better than the one at PAX East. They will review all of these games and change up the map based on what they learned. I don't think the map will be as drastic a change going into GenCon as there are a lot of good things to like about this latest PAX map. You had a lot of room for cool stuff to be done that I never quite saw happen. AbZero's particular brand of map control could be really effective on that map, forcing teams either up to the volcano or down to the turrets in order to gain LoS and close the gap. 

I think maybe a small 1-3 hex patch of cover in the center of that map could be a good thing. Maybe things like Snapshot Micromissiles and Targeting Computer wouldn't be as good on a map like that since LoS over most long distances are blocked, but it would force teams to close the gap on eachother and meet in the center head-on. Maybe that makes melee characters like Operative too good, but we saw how good Wraith is when the map is wide open, so I think there is a middle ground somewhere to be achieved. 

Agreed.

If tournaments keep going and growing, I expect we'll see much more complicated maps in the future as well as multiple maps in the same tournament. We may even see multiple levels in the tournament, i.e. two simultaneous tournaments, one for experienced teams and one for beginners.

I think I'd like a map with multiple battlegrounds. Right now it is usually a brawl over the middleground. Or at least a piece of terrain next to the middle ground, ie the jungle in the pax south tournament. Giving more diverse options might be interesting going forward. Maybe have a ring for the map and one side has an enormous jungle and the other has a city scape.

Any word on how Tactics did in walk up sales?  

Flame of Freedom didn't do quite as well as at South, but still did well. Tactics pre-orders did better at East than at South. I suspect that this disparity was a result of us having established fans at East who Kickstarted Flame of Freedom and already have it, and now want the new stuff.

Here is the full PAX East main table (all 12 hours of it) http://www.twitch.tv/greaterthangames/b/633860012.  It looks like it got streamed under "PAX South" (Oops).

Great tournament and awesome commentary.  We came by the booth on Friday after playing the online game, watched and demo, and then 3 in our group decided to signup for the tournament.  Luckily we found a core copy to check out, and a free table.  We played  2-on-3 for the first time until we got shuffled out the door (Then went to the hotel and played some King of New York)

I was still a bit iffy on some of the mechanics the next day, but luckily the three competing figured out enough to make it to the finals.  And after watching a few games we found a table after a vendor closed up shop for the night (Don't worry we asked, and they saw there was a scramble on space).  The GTG crew even loaned us another copy of the game (as all the copies were checked out).  I spent the next 3 hours running over the gameplay with some 3 completely non-tabletop gamers (well technically about 45 mins punching out all the pieces).

Sunday we all watched the finals, and then picked up some copies (and hopefully got a few people interested in playing again in the process).

Welcome to the forums!

I was very impressed with the presence at PAX.  Between the demo tables on one side, the digital version on the other, the Tactics tournament going on near the tabletop area, and even Sentinels merch at other booths -- my favorite heroes were everywhere!  

...and maybe more importantly, I got a couple of new friends hooked on SotM!  Thanks for coming guys!

We're glad you came and enjoyed yourself. Thanks!